iAd details emerge: big money, big companies

A few more details about iAd and advertisers emerged as we sat down with one …

Apple has announced that it will begin rolling out its iAd service on July 1, a little over one week after iOS 4 becomes available to the general public. The iOS 4 update allows developers to incorporate the service into their applications using the API that Apple offered in beta form in April. According to Apple, deals have already been inked with numerous major brands, including JCPenny, Nissan, Best Buy, and AT&T. The Cupertino company claims the deals are worth more than $60 million, which accounts for nearly 50 percent of the mobile ad expenditures for the second half of 2010 as predicted by JP Morgan earlier this year.

Paul Alexander, Senior Vice President of Communications for Liberty Mutual, was kind enough to sit down with us and discuss his company's participation in Apple’s mobile ad service. Alexander told Ars that the company was first approached about one month ago when Liberty Mutual appeared as an advertiser in Time’s iPad application. While Alexander wouldn’t offer financial details, he did tell us that Liberty Mutual is paying per click-through in iAd, but the length and size of the campaign was still being discussed.

Hill Holliday, Liberty Mutual’s advertising firm, is currently working with Apple to develop the campaign. All parties involved had creative say in the final product; it's unclear as to whether Apple will veto advertisements it considers aesthetically unpleasing, or what guidelines Apple is dictating as far as content is concerned.

We asked whether or not the iOS 4.0 requirement for iAd was a concern, since the majority of the iPhone user base would be using something other than OS 4.0 for some period of time. Alexander told us that Apple’s past growth with iOS devices and adoption rates made it a nonfactor. Liberty Mutual was not made aware whether other insurance companies would be part of the original rollout, but there was no exclusivity deal with Apple, so it wasn’t much of a concern. Similarly there is no exclusivity deal in the other direction; the company is free to advertise through other firms, on Android, or any other mobile platform.

The companies being featured in the pilot lend a sort of higher-end exclusivity to the service. Whether Apple will start signing up smaller companies with smaller advertising budgets remains to be seen, but if the company can continue to rake in big money, we’re not sure why it would bother.